Born in Hartford, Connecticut, Ashbel Smith was a prominent physician, statesman, soldier, and educator who received his degree from Yale Medical College in 1828. After a period of study in France, he returned to the United States to practice medicine in North Carolina. Hearing news of events in Texas in the mid-1830s, he decided to go there and arrived in 1837, too late to participate in the revolution. He was soon appointed Surgeon-General of the Texas Army and established a home called Evergreen Plantation one mile east of this site. Smith later served the Republic of Texas as Secretary of State and as Minister to Great Britain, France, Belgium, and Spain. After Texas attained statehood, he served several terms in the State Legislature. During the Civil War, he was elected captain of the Bayland Guards and colonel of the 2nd Texas Infantry of the Confederate Army. In higher education, he served as President of the first Board of Regents of the University of Texas and led support for establishment of its medical branch in Galveston. A significant leader during Texas' formative years, he died at his home on Evergreen Plantation and was buried in the state cemetery in Austin.